Vertical unwind device



Nov.'2, 1937. c. A. DICKHAUT ET A1, 2,097,998

VERTICAL UNWIND DEVICE Filed March 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Nov. 2, 1937. c; A. DICKHAUT ET AL 2,097,998

VERTICAL UNWIND DEVICE Filed March 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BZWMMLA ATTORNEY I Patented Nov. 2, I937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VERTICAL UNWIND DEVICE Charles A. Dickhaut, New Brunswick, and Sterling A. Warner, Somerville, N J., assignors to John -Waldron- Corporation, New Brunswick, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey I Application March 4, 1936 SerialNo. 67,012

7 Claims. (Cl. 242-76) This invention relates to a vertical winding 4 is secured on shaft 2 between nut 3 and frame or unwinding device. I. Shaft 2 has a yoke or cross arm 5 secured In connection with the manufacture or use of thereto adjacent the top cross pieces I and an web materials it is sometimes requisite that the other yoke or cross arm 6 adjacent the bottom of Web of material is wound or unwound in the cross pieces I. Cross arms 5 and 6 are rotatable 5 vertical plane. An illustration is in the vertical with shaft 2. Cross arm or yoke 5 has bearings coating of a web of paper and its subsequent I, l, to receive the roll spindles or axles 8. The drying on edge. It has heretofore been customary bearings are I split bearings, one-half of which to utilize horizontal winding o-r unwinding are secured in the ends of yoke 5 and the other mechanisms and to turn the web into the vertical half on quick release levers 9, 9'. The quick re- 10 plane by angle bars or other turning means. leaselevers have compression springs I0, I 0', and Such method requires additional space, addilatches ll, H. The bottoms of spindles 8, 8', tional mechanisms and there is always present are journaled in bearings l2, l2, with friction the difiiculty of maintaining the web at a uniform brakes I3, l3, to retard spindles 8, 8', to maintain elevation due to the natural tendency caused by the web when being unwound in proper tension. 5 gravity of the web to drop. To overcome the The friction brakes are adjustable by means of dropping of the web it is necessary to maintain wing nuts l4, l4. An adjustment wheel l5 has a the web as taut as possible, which in the case of hub I 5' which is interiorly threaded at l5 for paper, causes breakage and consequent waste. co-operation with threads I5 provided on the One of the objects of this invention is to proshaft 2. Rotation of the wheel l5 brings the 20 vide a vertical windup or unwind mechanism for lower end'of the hub I5 into engagement with handling webs of paper fabric and the like. the cross-piece l and further rotation of the Still another object of this invention is to Wheel will efiect elevation of the shaft 2. Thus in provide a vertical windup or unwind device the event of failure of the air pressure, the shaft wherein the web of paper will be automatically 2' may be adjusted vertically y manual rotation 25 maintained at a constant elevation. I of the wheel l5.

Still another object of the invention is to pro- Shaft 2 rests directly on button l6 of diaphragm vide a vertical windup or unwind mechanism supporting surface ll which in turn rests on diaof simplified construction wherein the rolls may phragm l8 with under supporting surface l9. 39-be secured to prevent the necessity of shutting Diaphragm supporting mechanism 20 raises or down the machine performing operations on a, lowers shaft 2 automatically with a variation of web. theelevation of the upper edge of the web.- Still another object of the invention is to pro- Pneumatic pressure is delivered through pipe 2| vide a floating or pneumatically supporting windto diaphragm mechanism 20 and pipe 22 being 3 up or unwind mechanism automatically conconnected with pipe 2| carries the same pressure trolled to maintain the rolls at a predetermined to valve 23 which is operated by finger 24 resting elevation. on the edge of web 25. As the finger 24 moves Referring to the drawings: up or down, it opens or closes valve 23 thereby Figure l is a view in elevation of a device emchanging the pressure in pneumatic mechanism bodying the principles of our invention. 20. Valve 23 is arranged to generally permit 40 Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1. some escape of pressure in order to have a suf- Figure 3 is a view of Figure 1 along the line ficient leeway to take care of maximum require- 3, 3, looking in the. direction of the arrows. ments. It is obvious that the'finger 24 may Figure 4 is a plan view of the pneumatic diaoperate a suction pneumatic adjustment or a phragm supporting the mechanism. pressure pneumatic adjustment. The pneu- Figure 5 is a cross sectional View along the line matic control is practically instantaneous and 5, 5, loo-king in the direction of the arrows. maintains the elevation very accurately. Upon Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-45 of Fig. l. the unwinding of one roll, the other roll is turned In carrying out our invention, we provide a into position by the rotation of handle 26 which frame I composed of channel irons and angle carries sprocket wheel 21, rotating chain 28, irons. Centrally of frame l is a shaft 2 that is which in turn rotates sprocket 29 on shaft 30. journaled in the frame I at the top and bottom Shaft 30 carries worm 3| meshing with Worm and extends above and below the cross pieces I gear 32 on shaft 2. Gear 32 rotates shaft 2 for of frame I. The upper portion of shaft 2 is spindle 8' to take the position of spindle 8. threaded for a spring retaining nut 3. A spring Spindle 8 is then removed by releasing release mechanism 8 and the removal of spindle 8 from the bearing l2 and brake 13. A new roll is then inserted and the release lever is returned to its locked position. The removal of the old spindle and the replacement by a new roll and spindle can be accomplished while the roll already inserted is in process of unwinding or of being wound up.

Although the device is shown as an unwinding mechanism, it is also adapted as a Windup mechanism. A pulley secured to spindle 8 with a release of brake l3, permits its immediate adaptation. Any other well known form of drive of the spindle may be used;

Shaft 2 between nut 3 and gear 32 has a spring 4 to relieve the weight of the mechanism from pneumatic mechanism 20. Spring 4 is preferably designed to support the fixed load other than the weight of the web of material being unwound.

Various details may be made and still fall within the scope of our invention.

It will thus be seen that we have invented an unwind or windup. mechanism for winding or unwinding a web of material in the vertical plane and automatically maintaining the web at a predetermined elevation by supporting the mechanism pneumatically and regulating the pneumatic control of the supporting means by the elevation of the edge of the web.

What we claim is:

1. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, arms journaled on said shaft, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said arms, a pneumatic diaphragm to support the end of said shaft, and means for pneumatically moving said diaphragm to change the ele-- vation of said shaft.

2. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, arms journaled on said shaft, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said arms, a pneumatic diaphragmto support the end of said shaft, means for pneumatically moving said diaphragm to change the elevation of said shaft, said means pneumatically controlled by a valve operated by a finger resting upon the material being unwound.

3. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, arms carried by said shaft, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said arms, a spring for supporting said shaft, pneumatic means for automatically varying the elevation of said shaft, said pneumatic means having control means effected by variation in the height of the edge of the web of material unwound from the roll of material.

4. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, arms carried by said shaft, split bearings in said arms, quick release latches for said bearings, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said bearings, means for manually adjusting the elevation of said shaft means for automatically and pneumatically varying the elevation of said shaft, said pneumatic means operatable upon variation of the height of the edge of the web being unwound from one of said spindles.

5. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, arms carried by said shaft, 2. spring for supporting the weight of said shaft and arms, split bearings in said arms, quick release latches for said bearings, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said bearings, means for manually adjusting the elevation of said shaft, and means for rotating said shaft to transpose said spindles when a roll is unwound to permit the unwinding of the second roll of material and the insertion of a third spindle and roll of material thereon in place of the unwound first spindle.

6. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, members carried by said shaft, a spring for supporting the weight of said shaft and members, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said sup-porting members, means for manually adjusting the elevation of said shaft, friction brakes carried by said members and acting on said spindles, and means for rotating said shaft to transpose the position of said spindles.

'7. In an unwind mechanism, a frame, a shaft journaled in said frame, members carried by said shaft, a spring for supporting the weight of said shaft and members, spindles for rolls of material rotatable in said supporting members, means for manually adjusting the elevation of said shaft, friction brakes carried by said members and acting on said spindles, means for rotating said shaft to transpose the position of said spindles, and pneumatic means for varying the elevation of said shaft to maintain the elevation of the web of material being unwound at the same elevation during the unwinding.

CHARLES A. DICKHAUT. STERLING A. WARNER. 

